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TORONTO — The Senators fought back, but still took it on the chin in Round 3 of the Battle of Ontario Wednesday night.

The Senators lost minor-league winger David Dziurzynski to a knockout punch on the first shift and then dropped their fourth straight -- a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Senators tried to erase a three-goal third period deficit, but the comeback fell short.

Colin Greening, Mika Zibanejad, Daniel Alfredsson and Zack Smith were able to beat Leafs goalie James Reimer, who faced 41 shots, but even the offensive outburst wasn't enough for the Senators to pick up the two points.

"We gave a good push in the third. Unfortunately, it just turned out to be late," said Alfredsson. "We know we're not going to quit. We put ourselves in a tough hole. We didn't execute well in our own end, especially in the first half.

"We hung in there and at least we scored four goals."

While Phil Kessel had three points, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and Dion Phaneuf had two-point nights. Nazem Kadri and Jay McClement also beat goalie Ben Bishop as the Senators hit the midway point clinging to a playoff position.

The Senators have just one win in their last 10 road games and didn't give themselves a chance until late when Greening and Alfredsson scored. Kadri's goal at 10:18 and Kessel's at 3:41 of the third through Bishop's five-hole put this away.

The good news is Smith broke his scoring drought to bring the Senators to within a goal at 1:40 of the third. He picked up a rebound for his first in 37 games and first since March 8, 2012, but in the end it wasn't enough.

"It was a long time counting every game, every minute. I had my chances. I knew it was going to come. It was very relieving to say the least," said Smith.

The Senators were down by a 3-1 count to the Leafs after 40 minutes. They outshot the Leafs by a 25-24 count, but had little in the way of second chances on Reimer and only Zibanejad was able to fire one home.

Zibanejad's fifth of the season came at 2:48 of the first when he beat Reimer with a snapshot on a rebound on a delayed penalty call. That should have been enough to ignite something from the Senators, but it wasn't enough.

Van Riemsdyk gave the Leafs a 3-0 lead at 1:20 of the second when he backed it by Bishop.

"A couple of bounces go our way and we win the game," said Bishop. "We just have to forget about it. It's nice (to score). Maybe the ball is rolling now. Obviously, we'd like to get the win. It hurts not to get it. If we can score that's big for us."

Trying to elevate the battle level, the Leafs staked their claim early against the Senators. First, Dziurzynski was knocked out by Frazer McLaren. Then, Chris Neil and Colton Orr had a tussle to set the tone.

"It was unfortunate," said Zibanejad. "It's not fun to see one of your guys go down like that."

To make matters worse, the Senators got off to a horrible start and allowed the Leafs to pull out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. It was McClement who gave Toronto a two-goal lead after Ottawa was caught in its own zone at 7:20.

Bozak opened the scoring at 6:24 when his attempted chip by Bishop hit Peter Regin and bounced in the net. The Senators have scored the first goal only once in the last 12 games and coach Paul MacLean hoped the trend would change.

"We made a couple of fatal errors in the first period, but Kessel was the difference in the game," said MacLean.

The Senators will close out this road trip Friday with a first-round playoff rematch against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Phil Kessel, TOR: With three-point night, he looks like he’s going to finally help get the Leafs to the post-season.

James van Riemsdyk, TOR: Scored his team-leading 13th goal and had an assist to help his club to the victory.

Daniel Alfredsson, OTT: The captain breaks a seven-game streak without a goal and helps to lead by example.

THUMBS UP

Zack Smith breaks his 37-game goal scoring drought that dates back to March 8, 2012 in the third period.

THUMBS DOWN

Watching David Dziurzynski get knocked out by Frazer McLaren and fall to the ice wasn’t pretty for anyone.

TURNING POINT

With the Senators trailing by a goal in the third, Mika Zibanejad is called for slashing Leo Kamorov to give the Leafs a power play. Phil Kessel is able to capitalize by beating Ben Bishop through the five-hole at 3:41 to restore the two-goal lead for the Leafs.